Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)
    Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)
    Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)
    Ebook70 pages54 minutes

    Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)

    By Leland L. Duncan

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    An absorbing collection of folklore and legend from a timeless county in the heart of Ireland. Comprising stories on fairies, Leprechauns, witches and wizards. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using original text and artwork
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateNov 11, 2011
    ISBN9781447491316
    Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)

    Related to Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)

    Related ebooks

    Social Science For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Warning To The Fortean

      Jul 14, 2022

      A Warning To The Fortean
      9 min read

    • Article

      Born And Bred

      Dec 17, 2021

      Born And Bred
      2 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Jun 9, 2022

      Q&A
      4 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Dec 17, 2021

      Notes From The Isles
      4 min read

    • Article

      James V: The Incognito King

      Dec 17, 2021

      James V: The Incognito King
      5 min read

    • Article

      Weekend In… brodick

      Aug 25, 2023

      Weekend In… brodick
      5 min read

    • Article

      In The Wake Of Morag

      Jul 15, 2021

      In the summer of 1979, Morag wasn’t the only strange and elusive entity in the vicinity of Loch Morar: two LN&MP (Loch Ness and Morar Project) members told of encountering a mysterious American who claimed to be living in a cave on the northern shore

      15 min read

    • Article

      Scottish Traditions

      Dec 4, 2020

      Scottish Traditions
      4 min read

    • Article

      My Dublin

      Oct 2, 2019

      My Dublin
      2 min read

    • Article

      Diary Dates

      Apr 9, 2022

      Diary Dates
      4 min read

    • Article

      One Must Always Go Out

      Jul 14, 2022

      One Must Always Go Out
      3 min read

    • Article

      Travels With Tom

      Aug 19, 2022

      Travels With Tom
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dark The Side Of Christmas

      Nov 23, 2023

      Dark The Side Of Christmas
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Story Of WITCHES

      Oct 20, 2021

      Many of those dressing up as witches and ghouls for Halloween know little of the real history of witches. We see modern incarnations in culture as harmless, like Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch children’s books, and the trainee witches from the Harry P

      3 min read

    • Article

      Black Christmas

      Oct 26, 2021

      Black Christmas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Aug 19, 2022

      My three darling daughters took me on a birthday trip to Orkney recently; sadly, my son couldn’t attend because he was committed to a charity hike in the south. Because of work schedules, we could only stay for two days and nights, but we managed to

      3 min read

    • Article

      Voices From The 14th Century

      Jun 11, 2021

      Voices From The 14th Century
      3 min read

    • Article

      Step Into A Legend

      Jan 13, 2022

      Step Into A Legend
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Carmina Gadelica

      Mar 27, 2020

      The Carmina Gadelica
      1 min read

    • Article

      Valley Of the Dolls

      Aug 26, 2021

      Valley Of the Dolls
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Story Of Cornwall

      Aug 26, 2021

      The Story Of Cornwall
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series)

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Folklore of County Leitrim (Folklore History Series) - Leland L. Duncan

      FOLK-LORE GLEANINGS FROM COUNTY LEITRIM.

      THE district from whence these notes are derived lies to the south-east of the lower end of Lough Allen, and comprises part of the parishes of Kiltubrid and Fenagh, in County Leitrim, the latter better known on account of the Book of Fenagh and the remains of St. Caillin’s Abbey. This part of the county is fairly hilly, with wide stretches of bog, and many lakes; while towards the north of Kiltubrid lies the wild mountain district of Slieve-an-iarain. At the present time it is devoid of timber, except such as has been planted round the houses of the gentry, and this absence of trees and hedges gives the whole district a rather desolate appearance. Until the Cavan, Leitrim, and Roscommon Light Railway was constructed, a few years ago, Kiltubrid was quite cut off from outside influence. Carrick-on-Shannon is ten miles off; and Drum-shanbo and Ballinamore, five and seven miles away respectively, are only small country towns. The people, therefore, have not yet lost the old traditions of the place, in spite of the fact that the native tongue has almost died out; but they are fast disappearing, and it is to be feared will ere long be extinct, as they have become under similar circumstances elsewhere.

      The stories in English which I have heard told by the peasantry in co. Leitrim are, of course, not to be compared with those collected in Irish by Dr. Hyde in the next county (Roscommon), but they are interesting, I think, as showing the form that the tales have taken at the present day. As regards the general superstitions, etc., current in the district, my informants were as a rule people of over forty years of age, who referred to such matters as having been told them by their parents, who were Irish speakers.

      The tales were related to me by a little lad of fourteen, whose mother, in her turn, heard them in her youth from her father, John Tighe, of the townland of Cordery Peyton, the son of Peter Tighe of Corrick-beside-Laheen Peyton (co. Leitrim), both of whom were Irish speakers, and spoken of as great story-tellers. The lad, Michael McManus by name, son of Patrick McManus of Aughrim in Kiltubrid, very kindly wrote the tales down for me—for which I owe him my best thanks—and I have thought it proper to put them forward here in his own words without alteration. It may be worth while to add that, so far as the family knew, the tales had never appeared in print.

      There do not appear to be any customs peculiar to the immediate neighbourhood, but it may here be noted that fires are still lighted on the hills and along the sides of the roads on Saint John’s Eve.

      THE GOOD PEOPLE.

      That the fairies are fallen angels is a widely spread belief, but still it is interesting to compare the ideas of the people in different localities on this subject. This is the Kiltubrid version: Who are the fairies? I asked one evening of a country woman. The Good People (God speed them!) is it? said she. Well, I have heard that when there was war in heaven, and the wicked angels were being cast out, that St. John asked the Almighty would he waste the whole heavens and earth? So God said, ‘Let everything stand as it is!’ and so everything remained as it was that instant, and that is why there are fairies in the air (you’ve heard noises in the air, haven’t you?), and on the earth, and under the earth.

      A belief in the good people is, of course, very general. Cashels or forts in the fields—those round earthworks, common in many parts of the country—are held to be specially the place of meeting, and no one would willingly disturb one. There are stories of persons being struck dead for even cutting bushes round a fort. It is also said to be unwise to attempt to build on a walk; buildings so put up are invariably thrown down during the night. A tale is told of a man who attempted to add an outbuilding to his house, in spite of the advice of a friend—for it is in that way the fairies dissuade one from building. What he built in the day was promptly thrown down at night, because the good people had a walk on that side of the house, and he finally had to take his friend’s advice and build on the other side.

      That the good people take away infants from their parents, and leave an old stick of a thief in the guise of a child in their place is also believed. There are several tales of these changelings and their doings. Here is one: Once on a time there was a woman whose child was taken away, and an old thief left in its place, yet was he so disguised that the woman never found out the difference. Now, there lived in the same house a tailor, and one day when the woman had gone into the town, to the tailor’s surprise, the baby got out some pipes and began to play. He played away merrily until he thought the woman would be returning, and then he told the tailor that he must on no account tell her, or it would be no more tunes he’d be playing him. However, the tailor did tell the woman, and sent her out to the town with directions to return speedily. So she came back in a short time and found the young old man sitting up in the cradle and playing to the tailor; but when she came in at the door he put the pipes under the pillow, and was as though he were an infant again. The woman was afraid when she saw that it was not her child, for when she heard the pipes

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1